Nintendo has announced the first Pokemon title for the 3DS handheld, Super Pokemon Rumble. A spin-off from the classic monster-collecting RPG franchise, this game is “a powerful battle between toy Pokemon,” according to the game’s Japanese-language trailer.

In this game, there’s a world of “toy” Pokemon, and your Mii owns a collection. In gameplay, though, you directly control a Pokemon as it moves about a 3D, top-down world. As usual, players collect Pokemon as they win battles. In settings ranging from grassy plains to mountains, players fight against enemy toy Pokemon and loot defeated ones to level up. When you defeat boss monsters, you gain their appearance as optional skins.

You can also enter a Battle Royale mode set inside a Pokemon-flavored ring. If you’re the last person standing, you win. There’s another mode, Team Battle, that allows three monsters to cooperate inside a dungeon. However, it’s a single-player mode.

There are multiplayer modes. There is a two-player co-op mode requiring two cartridges. Additionally, the 3DS StreetPass feature is supported and you can gain new monsters to play with (or against) as your system sleeps.

The game releases in Japan on July 28th at the standard retail price of 4,800 yen (US$59). As it’s Pokemon we can definitely expect to see this game heading to western shores.

There’s also little doubt that the next duo of Pokemon games from the main series will be a 3DS exclusive, although we’re sure that’s going to be a tough decision for Nintendo to make. There are some 146 million DS handhelds in circulation. Would you really want to not keep supporting them for a while yet?